OK, I bought the Miglia Director's Cut Take 2 video converter box from OWC, and I've been playing with it for two days now, so here's a report on how well it works. It connects to the Mac with a Firewire cable and needs no other power (pretty neat). So far I've imported analog video from my Hi-8 camcorder and movies from a VCR (actually a dual-deck VCR with both a tape and DVD player), importing everything into iMovie 2.0.3 in the Mac.
>From the VCR I imported both a VHS movie and a DVD movie into the Mac (a Quicksilver 733 with OS 9.2.2). Just in case anyone's interested, the VHS movie (Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying machines) is 138 minutes long and takes up 27.8 gigs on the hard drive, and the DVD movie (Titanic) is 3 hours and 11 minutes long and takes up 38.5 gigs of hard drive space. The quality of the video in iMovie is great, every bit as good as the original, and when it's exported back through the DC-2 converter box onto videotape it looks fine also, with good color and detail. HOWEVER, so far, the exported audio sucks. Although everything sounds nice and clear in iMovie, when the videos are exported out onto VHS tapes, and the tapes are played in the VCR, all the music and sound is accompanied by a buzzing noise. It isn't a constant buzz, because in places where the movies fall silent, the buzz quits too. The buzz only accompanies voices and music, and is really annoying. SO, I can report that although the DC-2 box imports and exports video very well, with good color and sharp detail, it exports crappy audio---if it's the DC-2's fault. It may not be, since I never read about any such buzz in all the reviews I read about the DC-2. I rather suspect (and hope) it's something I'm doing wrong, something I could fix if I knew what, but so far I can't figure out what's wrong. The DC-2's manual is very minimal and has no troubleshooting guide. I'm using good-quality RCA cables between the DC-2 and the VCR, and it's a brand new VCR. Anybody got any ideas what might be causing the buzz in the exported audio? Thanks, Tom At 5:27 PM -0600 5/12/2004, Thomas Baker wrote: >>I do have one BIG recomendation - _whatever_ one buys, purchase from a >>vendor that will accept its return if the results are not acceptable. >> >>Dan K > >I was going to buy the Miglia DC-2 video converter box from OWC, but I just >checked and discovered that they charge a 15% restocking fee for any >returned item. Is this typical of online sellers? I also just noticed that >their price is $30 more than Amazon.com electronics is asking for this item >($269 vs $299). I don't think Amazon.com charges a restocking fee for a >return, but (of course) they are presently out of stock on the DC-2. > >So now I'm looking elsewhere. Anybody know of any other company that offers >a no-sting return policy (except for shipping costs) on a Miglia Director's >Cut Take 2 analog-to-DV video converter? > >Thanks, > >Tom Art website at http://www.ThomasBakerPaintings.com Archaeology website at http://www.nmia.com/~jaybird/AANewsletter/ -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
